The fight continued on while I wavered in and out of consciousness. I fought as hard as I could. Mack was in real, mortal danger. I clung on, concentrating on pushing out the icy sensation from body with as much force and speed as I could muster. Just as I regained some feeling back in my paws the wraith roared, the terrible sound filling the sky. I raised my head up just in time to see a strange smile on Thomas’ face. Then the wraith kicked him in the head. He collapsed backwards, his neck obviously broken. Mack sprinted past me while I tried to get up. My tail whipped from side to side. I was recovering quickly – but not quickly enough.
‘It’ssssss miiiiiiiine!’ Tryyl cried.
Mack ignored him. I could do nothing more than helplessly watch as she jumped headfirst towards him, headbutting his stomach. He thrust a hand out towards her throat and, for one heartstopping moment, I thought he’d sliced her open. Instead, however, he was holding the necklace that had been hanging round her neck in his dark, claw-like fingers. He frowned down at it, just as I could feel my strength returning enough to stand up. I staggered to my feet while Tryyl spewed out a dark gloop of spittle. It landed on the mage’s corpse. On Mack’s dead friend. There was a strange roar of angry agony. I wasn’t sure where it had come from. Then I realised it had come from Mack.
I stretched back on my haunches, ready to leap ahead into the fray once more. My body still felt sluggish but I couldn’t let Mack be hurt. I’d already failed her enough as it was. Tryyl reached down, smashing the heads of two other mages in against each other. Then there was another roar and it seemed as if the sky were splitting open.
I blinked. The only thing I could think of was that it was another wraith, come to back Tryyl up and destroy us all. I turned my head to Mack – and what I saw almost made me collapse back down again.
Her body was changing. She was shifting, but not in a manner I’d ever seen before. This wasn’t a werewolf or a werebear or some kind of werecat. It definitely wasn’t a werehamster. Mack roared and her limbs twisted, her smooth flesh giving way to iridescent scales. Her neck swung out, long and graceful, and her nostrils flared. She snorted and a puff of fire blew out from her mouth. I only just managed to roll to one side as her tail swung round in my direction. But I still continued to stare. Towering above every one of us, Mack was magnificent. And she was also a freaking dragon.
Her large eyes, with their strange yellow flecks more enhanced and glittering than normal, focused down on the wraith. His neck craned back as he looked up at her. For a moment I saw his Adam’s apple bob in fear and then she opened up her mouth, leaned towards him as if he were nothing more than a cockroach underneath her foot, and ripped his head off.
The dark smoke that was Tryyl’s body began to writhe. Snakes of black twisted out into the air, vanishing almost immediately. He dissipated away into the atmosphere as if he’d never even existed in the first place. The thunderous sounds of the fight had given way to an eerie silence. Mack’s dragon form blinked twice. Then she collapsed in a heap, her body returning to its small, vulnerable human form. She curled into a tight foetal shape. Oh God. I immediately shifted back, and ran over to her with a stumbling limp. I crouched down, my hands tracing over her body. Her skin was burning, almost too hot to touch. I pressed one hand on her forehead, trying to steady my shaking fingers. Her breathing was harsh and erratic but her features were smooth. She was still my Mack.
She moaned, although her eyes remained shut.
‘Shhh,’ I said, wiping away the sweat from her brow and ignoring the singe I received in return. ‘It’s alright now. Everything’s alright.’
She shivered and her body curled up even tighter. My heart aching, I scooped her up, cradling her against my chest. It was only when I stood up, with her safely in my arms, that I realised there was a bank of mages in front of us, all staring. The crowd parted and the Arch-Mage stepped through.
He strode over to me and gazed down at Mack’s unconscious form. ‘Who would have believed it?’ he said quietly. ‘I knew she had power but this...’
I tilted up my chin and met his eyes. ‘She’s a shifter,’ I told him. ‘She belongs with me.’
‘Oh no, dear boy.’ The Arch-Mage shook his head. ‘Mackenzie Smith is no shifter. She’s a Draco Wyr.’
CHAPTER NINETEEN
What I really wanted to do was to take Mack away from this place and back to where she belonged – with me and the Brethren. The wide-eyed looks from the assembled mages, which appeared to range from abject terror to utter adulation, were almost too much to take. It was Mack. She was scary sometimes, but she wasn’t to be feared. And she was my goddess alone – not anyone else’s. The Arch-Mage, however, persuaded me that taking her through a portal right now would be an extraordinarily bad idea. If it wasn’t for how I’d seen her react when she travelled in that manner with my own eyes, then I’d have argued the point. As it was I agreed that moving her unconscious body a long distance was probably not a good idea. I was determined not to let go of her though.
I carried her as gently as I could into a small room with a bed. A black robed mage with an incongruous looking stethoscope bustled forward. I growled at him.
‘Lord Corrigan, he’s not going to harm her. We just want to check her vitals.’
I glowered and lay her down, then stood back with my arms folded, ready to pounce if the mage doctor hurt even a single hair on her head. Another mage handed me a set of robes. I stared at it then at him. He scratched his neck uncomfortably. For the sake of the mages’ own propriety, I pulled the robes on. They were ridiculously short and tight on me.
‘She seems fine, as far as I can tell,’ the doctor finally said, when he pulled away. ‘Her pulse is far too fast and she appears to be suffering from some kind of fever. Other than that, however, she’s doing okay.’ He held up the thermometer as evidence. ‘She’s already cooling down.’ He took out a syringe and moved towards her again.
I snarled. ‘No.’
‘I’m just going to take a sample to...’
‘No.’ I knew exactly why he wanted a sample. I wasn’t a complete idiot. What Mack had just transformed into was virtually unheard of. Everyone would want a piece of her. I was damned if I was going to allow that.
The Arch-Mage took one look at my face and agreed. ‘Perhaps another time,’ he commented. He waved both the doctor and the other hovering mages away and glanced down at Mack. ‘I take it from your reaction that you were no more aware of her true nature than we were.’
‘I was not,’ I said through gritted teeth. I was starting to understand why she’d kept it a secret though. A dragon? Or Draco Wyr or whatever he had called her? The Otherworld would go nuts when they found out. I felt another surge of fear. ‘You can’t tell anyone,’ I said suddenly. ‘This has to be kept secret. Make sure all those mages out there forget what they’ve seen and...’
‘It can’t be done, Lord Corrigan,’ the Arch-Mage answered calmly.
‘You can wipe the minds of humans. Do the same for your wizards.’
‘They are not wizards. They are mages. As you very well know. And we do not do that to each other. It would be impolite.’
I glared at him. ‘Politeness be damned. She needs to be kept safe.’
He pursed his lips and mulled it over. ‘Very well. It shall be arranged immediately.’ He clapped his hands and another mage appeared at the door almost instantly. The Arch-Mage bent his head and murmured towards him a low voice. The mage looked unhappy but he nodded.
As soon as we were alone again, I reiterated my point. ‘You need to make damn sure that if any of them so much as dares to open their mouths then...’
He shook his head sadly at me. ‘Word will get out, no matter what you try to do. I have done what I can. Their memories will be bound. But the truth can only be contained for so long. Her life is going to change.’
I straightened up. ‘Word will only get out if we allow it. What we need to do is...’
‘Good afternoon,’ interrupting a lilting voic
e from the doorway.
‘I’m sorry Your Magnificence,’ another young looking mage gabbled. ‘She just appeared from nowhere.’
He held up his hand. ‘It’s quite alright. You couldn’t have stopped her.’ He smiled at the apprentice. ‘You may go.’
The Summer Queen strolled into the room. She walked over to Mack and gazed down at her for a moment, her hand lightly brushing against the soft stubble covering her scalp. ‘No wonder this little one has been causing so much trouble. She’s really very small for a Draco Wyr but it’s so obvious when you think about it.’
‘The hot temper,’ the Arch-Mage began, ‘and her strange magic.’
‘Not to mention hair of that brilliant red colour.’
I bristled. They were discussing her as if she were simply a piece of meat. ‘How did you know?’ I asked the Fae Queen, trying to keep the rancour out of my voice. I failed miserably.
‘I could feel the ripples of magic even from Tir-na-Nog. This young woman has a lot of power.’ She glanced over at the Arch-Mage. ‘I’ll take her with me. She’ll heal far faster if she’s away from this plane.’
He raised a single eyebrow in her direction. ‘She’s not a mage. That’s obvious now. But her powers indicate that the Ministry is the best place for her.’
Absolutely. No. Way. ‘For fuck’s sake!’ I cursed. ‘She transformed into a bloody dragon! She shifted. To all intents and purposes, she’s a shifter and she belongs with the Pack.’ I glared at him, daring him to disagree.
He dared. ‘Oh, really? And since when has the Pack ever, or even in the last thousand years, had a member who shifts into a dragon? She is not a shapeshifter. She is not a weredragon. There’s no such thing!’
I balled up my fists. I was not about to let Mack stay here. Not under any circumstances. Now that her identity was out in the open the mages would at best use her for their ends and, at worst, conduct experiments on her to see how far she could be pushed. ‘Don’t you think that the people who are best placed to help her with this emotionally as well as physically are those who also have alternate forms?’ I asked.
‘And don’t you think,’ came the brisk rejoinder, ‘that someone who has taken an oath to the mages and who is able to eject fire from her hands is best served by learning and growing with those who can teach her?’
The Summer Queen took advantage of our stand-off. ‘Gentlemen, clearly Miss Smith here has kept her identity secret for a reason. She is afraid of what might happen were others to discover her true nature. It would be best for everyone if she was kept safely away from any dangers. We can do this. In fact, she clearly trusts us because we already doing that for a very dear friend of hers.’ She smiled calmly.
I shook my head. We had a name for what Mack was but that didn’t mean any of us really understood it. I thought of Iabartu and my blood chilled. ‘But who exactly knows what she is?’ I argued. ‘We should track them down and make damn sure that they do nothing to harm a single hair on her head.’
The Summer Queen gave me an arch look. ‘She doesn’t have much hair on her head to harm, does she?’
This was not going well. Flashes of Mack’s future as a bargaining chip for the Otherworld powers that be to fight over assailed me. She’d never have peace.
At that moment, the lady in question stirred. There was a faint moan, then a very small croak. ‘Jeremy?’
We all turned to her immediately. Her face was still pale but her eyes were clear. Relief flooded my body. She was conscious. That was enough for now.
‘Initiate Smith! We are so glad that you’re alright,’ exclaimed the Arch-Mage in honeyed tones. ‘You destroyed the wraith!’
The tip of her tongue flicked out and wet her lips. ‘Thomas?’ she whispered, desperation in her face.
‘Mackenzie, you’ve really caused quite a sensation, you know,’ the Summer Queen interjected.
The Arch-Mage tried to bustle his way in again. ‘Don’t worry about that though.’ He placed a hand on her arm. I almost wrenched him off. ‘We’ve arranged for an oath to safeguard the memories of everyone of witnessed your, uh, transformation. A lot of students and indeed mages saw what happened from the windows. But we’ve ensured that they won’t tell anyone. Your identity is safe. It’s just the three of us who are unbound. Some,’ he said directing his comment towards the Queen, ‘coming later to the party than the others.’
And some, I thought, who didn’t think her identity would be safe no matter what words came from their mouth. Whatever the Arch-Mage was spouting, however, wasn’t my concern. Mack’s desperation was palpable.
‘I’m sorry, Mack,’ I said quietly, telling her what she really wanted to know. ‘He didn’t make it.’
I tried to hold her eyes to convey my sympathy. She had obviously cared for Jeffrey Thomas a great deal, no matter how annoyed it had initially made me. Mack couldn’t focus on me, however. She squeezed her eyes shut in pain. A moment later, her body shuddered with a tiny sob. The sob grew. Her body shook until she was gasping and tears were running unbidden down her cheeks. I did the only thing I could do. I reached down and drew her to me, holding her as tight as I dared.
‘There was nothing you could have done,’ I told her, wishing I could take away her pain. ‘Not for him or the student.’
She cried even harder and clung to me. I didn’t do or say anything else. I simply held her for as long as she needed. At some point the Summer Queen and the Arch-Mage both withdrew, muttering something about finding the Dean. I was thankful that they finally realised this was not the time to continue with their recruitment bids. Mack and I stayed where we were. I could stay like this forever if she needed me.
When she finally stopped crying, gaining some kind of control over her grief, she pulled away and looked at me. ‘You’re wearing mage’s robes.’
I understood her need to focus on something normal. I flicked a look down at myself. Not that this silly get up looked normal on me. ‘It was all they could find at short notice.’ If my attire distracted her, then it was worth it. I reached out and gently brushed away her remaining tears. ‘You’ll be alright, Mack. You’ll get through this.’
She met my eyes, her pain still brutally obvious. ‘Yes, I suppose I will.’ Her voice was dull.
I moved my hand to her shoulder to squeeze it in sympathy. A strange mark was carved into her skin. Three scars curved across her smooth white body. ‘That wasn’t there before,’ I said, concerned.
‘Huh?’ she glanced down. A tiny smile flickered at her lips when she saw what I was referring to. She nodded to herself and sat up, putting her feet onto the floor. ‘Where’s the Arch-Mage?’
I scowled. I didn’t want her to worry about him right now. There’d be plenty time for that later. ‘Mackenzie, you really should rest.’ She gave me a look that would have quelled half the Otherworld in its tracks. ‘Fine,’ I sighed, yielding. ‘I think he’ll be in the Dean’s office.’
She stood up, wavering. Worried she was about to crumple, I hastily moved to her side to help but she pushed me away.
‘No. I can manage,’ she told me.
I dampened down my hurt and did as she requested. I made sure I was within arm’s reach, however. Very, very slowly, we left the tiny room and walked out. Mack knew where she was going so I followed her lead. We passed several young looking students on our way. Although the memory-binding spell was probably already in place, Mack received several looks of both shared and pain and admired respect. I felt proud to be with her.
When we finally made it to the office, the three of them were inside: the Dean, the Arch-Mage and the Summer Queen. The Dean, whose face I still wanted to smack, turned round and smiled. ‘Initiate Smith! You are up and about! I’m so pleased.’
Mack’s response was blunt. ‘Don’t call me that. I’m not an initiate any more. You know there’s no longer any need for it because I’m not a mage.’
The Dean started. I wondered whether he ‘remembered’ what had happened as well as the other two.
The Arch-Mage hadn’t kept that fucking promise for long.
‘You will release Mrs. Alcoon from stasis,’ Mack continued, her tone hard, ‘and release me from my oath. I won’t do any harm to you or your mages. I think I’ve proved that by now.’
If I’d thought anyone would argue, I was wrong. Both the Dean and the Arch-Mage simply nodded.
‘You’re the Summer Queen?’ Mack asked, addressing the Fae. She nodded and got to her feet, holding out her hand. I had to repress a grin when Mack pointedly ignored it. ‘Will you help transport my friend back here?’ she asked, referring to the older Scottish woman I’d heard about. ‘To this plane?’
The Summer Queen also clearly knew when it was best to acquiesce. ‘I can do that. But, Mackenzie, you should know that you can come and join us in Tir-na-Nog. I can assure you that you’ll be safe there.’
‘That’s alright,’ Mack dismissed.
I took a deep breath, my heart hammering in my chest. ‘Will you come with me? I won’t force you, Mack. You know that.’ At least I hoped she did. ‘And I won’t look after you if that’s what you want. You’ll have as much freedom as you want.’
Mack smiled. My stomach flipflopped and I thought for a moment she’d say yes. She touched my cheek gently. That’s when I knew what her answer would really be. I understood why, even though it made me unbearably sad. ‘No, Corrigan. But thank you. I need to do this on my own, at least for now.’